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Poisonous Fillings

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25/05/1840

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Monsieur J.M. Mallan, a surgeon-dentist from London's Ludgate Hill, 'begs to inform the nobility, gentry and inhabitants of this town and their vicinities that he may be consulted on Mondays at Mrs Swift's, Market Place'. He offers the following:
"...to fill the cavities of decayed teeth, however large, with Mineral Saccedaneum, the great advantage of which is that it is placed in the tooth in an almost liquid state, without heat or pressure, and immediately hardens into an enamel which by a recent improvement will not discolour. it allays pain, arrests further progress of decay, thus preventing the necessity of extraction. By this means, a mere shell is converted into a sound and useful tooth, and the unpleasant taint of the breath arising from it entirely removed."
What he doesn't say is that 'Mineral Saccedaneum' is almost pure mercury and is most definitely not a nice thing to have in your mouth! (Lincoln, Rutland and Stamford Mercury)
Taken from The Peterborough Book of Days by Brian Jones, The History Press, 2014.

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Mill Hill Villa

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Mill Hill is an area to the south east of Castor, near to the river Nene. It sits within a rich landscape of Roman archaeological remains due to its proximity to Durobrivae.

A Roman villa was discovered on Mill Hill which had evidence of a courtyard, mosaic flooring and hypocausts. The villa is high status and shares some similarities with other villas nearby. It appears that high status villas were built close to the river Nene and Durobrivae, but lower status villas were further away from the valley and more rural.

Edmund Artis was the local antiquarian who first uncovered the villa. He drew his interpretation of the area, which comprised several buildings with sizeable walls. He made detailed illustrations of the mosaic flooring, which contain a striking checker board pattern. Artis' plans were first published in 1823 after excavation in 1822. Later analysis has revealed the mosaic was created by a guild of local mosaicists who operated in the mid to late fourth century and crafted mosaics in Durobrivae and in what is now Lincolnshire.